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Presentation of 
Colors 

TO 

The 367th Regiment 
of Infantry 

The Union League Club 

and The Parade of The 

Regiment in New York City 

March 23, 1918 




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e PRESENTATION 
OF COLORS 

To 

The 367th Regiment 
gf Infantr)^ 

COLONEL JAMES A. MOSS 
Commanding 

By 

THE UNION LEAGUE CLUB 




and The Parade 
of the Regiment 
in New York City 
cTVIarch, 23, 1918 



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AUG 20 1921 



THE REGIMENTAL COAT OF ARMS 



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EiGIMENT 



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The EAGLE symbolizes the United States of 
America. 

The CROSSED RIFLES mean Infantry. 

The BUFFALO HEAD signifies colored soldier, 
because in frontier days the Indians used to call our 
colored soldiers "Buffalo Soldiers," because in color 
they were black or brown like the Buffalo, and like the 
Buffalo they were good fighters, as the Indians had 
learned from experience. 

The REGIMENTAL MOTTO, "See It Through,' 
expresses the spirit, the soul of the Regiment. 

The LAUREL LEAVES typify victory,— the vic- 
tory that the Regiment will always bend every effort 
to achieve, and for which it will willingly make every 
sacrifice. 




COLONEL JAMES A. MoSS. 

Commanding 367th Infanti 



A PRELUDE 

MARCH, 1863 

New York City, in March, 1863, was possessed by a 
smouldering hatred against the Negro. In the early 
days of July of that year this feeling against the col- 
ored man broke all restraint. He was pursued with 
an ignorant but bloody hatred by the populace of the 
city. The Negroes of the city were threatened with 
extermination. Colored men were hunted from their 
homes. They were killed in the streets, — almost open- 
ly and always by a mob. It was feared for a time 
that the race hatred would spread throughout the 
country. 

Five months later, — the same unreasoning hatred for 
the black man still smouldering within the breasts of 
many, — came the President's call for volunteers. 
Agencies for the enlistment of white men were in 
abundance, but little or nothing was done to enlist col- 
ored men. During the race riots, — before and after 
them for that matter, — the Union League Club stood 
firmly and boldly for equal rights. Again the Club 
stalked out into the open. A committee was appointed 
to raise volunteers. The committee decided to enlist 
the Negroes of New York City. By private subscrip- 
tion a fund of $18,000 was raised and within the month, 
— November, 1863, — one thousand and twenty Ne- 
groes, — a regiment, — were in training on Riker's 
Island. There remained in addition six hundred men 
who formed the skeleton of a second regiment which 
the Club subsequently raised. These regiments were 
known as the Twentieth and the Twenty-sixth U. S. 
Colored Troops. 



Later the Club assisted in the recruiting of two more 
colored regiments. 

The recruiting of the regiments was not regarded 
with favor. The then Governor of New York State 
not only refused his authority, but he withheld his 
sanction of the movement. It was necessary for the 
Club to obtain the proper authority from the War 
Department. 




THE VINDICATION 

MARCH, 1918— FIFTY-FIVE YEARS LATER 

The animosity that smouldered in March, 1863, and 
which burst into a fierce flame in July of that year, has 
died a natural death. On March 23, 1918, New York 
City informally declared a holiday and marked time 
while the Union League Club, still hewing straight to 
the line of equal justice, presented a stand of colors 
to the 367th Infantry. Hundreds of thousands of peo- 
ple, practically all white, lined Fifth Avenue on both 
sides of the street, while three thousand colored sol- 
diers marched. Applause unrestrained and spontaneous 
rose from the huge crowd. Hisses, and acts of violence 
had given way to cheers. 

THE BUFFALOES LEAVE FOR NEW YORK 
The afternoon of Friday, March 22, at Camp Up- 
ton, Long Island, sixty-five miles from New York 
City, the men of the 357th Infantry, popularly known 
as the "Buffaloes," broke all records for alacrity as 
they scurried about, arranging the effects they were to 
take to the City that evening, scouring their canvas 
leggings and shining their boots. 

Everyone was ready and anxious when the march 
to the trains started. 

ARRIVING IN GOTHAM 

Three hours later the regiment left the trains at the 
Pennsylvania Station in New York, and was soon at 
its quarters in the Sixty-ninth Regiment Armory, at 
Lexington Avenue and Twenty-fifth Street. There 
many of their relatives and friends were on hand to 
welcome them. Those who had homes in the City v^rere 
permitted to stay there. Those who did not were well 
looked after at the Armory. 

Even persons who were strangers to the men were 
attracted to the Armory, too, for the reputation the 
regiment had established at Camp Upton had preceded 
it to the City. Its proficiency in drill, the splendid be- 



havior of the men about camp, their general happy 
nature, and the big task of the command in erecting 
at a cost of $40,000, the largest cantonment structure 
in the country, — its "Buffalo Auditorium," — with a 
seating capacity of 5,000, had made the 367th a most 
popular unit. 

THE PARADE 

The "Buffaloes" ! 

It took but an afternoon to introduce the 367th In- 
fantry, Camp Upton's now famous colored regiment, 
to New York, and New York bade Colonel Moss's men 
a vociferous "Howdy do," and added a tumultuous 
"We're very glad to see you!" 

The Metropolitan appearance of the entire Buffalo 
command was undoubtedly one of the biggest things 
that has ever been done for the Negro race. Hun- 
dreds of thousands of people, from those who saw the 
procession from their motor cars or the windows of 
their mansions in Fifth Avenue, to the humblest of 
Negroes who were glad of a point of vantage on a 
Harlem sidewalk or tenement roof, gasped with amaze- 
ment and delight when they beheld a triumphal proces- 
sion of what four months ago were civilians who had 
never even opened a drill manual. A snappy, disci- 
plined, war-ready, full-strength regiment in four 
months ! 

But the unending lines of spectators soon found 
their surprise giving away unconsciously to violent 
hand-clapping and hearty shouts of encouragement and 
approval. The martial appearance of the men and the 
precise, rythmic way in which they swept along, stun- 
ned the great crowds momentarily and then caused a 
din of cheering that almost drowned the music of the 
regimental band. 

The clamorous welcome along the line of march 
grew into practically an uproar when Harlem was 
reached. The first intention of the regimental com- 



mander was that the regiment should be taken to the 
City so that its own people, — the 150,000 Negroes of 
Greater New York, — might see what Uncle Sam had 
done for them, what an efficient fighting man the col- 
ored soldier could make, but later it was decided that 
if the parade was also held along Fifth Avenue the 
whole of New York would then see what the National 
Army had done for the Negro. On top of this, the 
Union League Club, which had dined two hundred 
"Buffaloes" at its clubhouse on Thanksgiving Day and 
had contributed $3,000 to the Buffalo Auditorium fund, 
announced that it would present the regiment with a 
stand of colors. 

Governor Charles S. Whitman accepted Colonel 
Moss's invitation to review the parade from the grand- 
stand in front of the clubhouse, and many civic and 
military dignitaries attended the ceremony. 

THE MARCH BEGINS 

At two o'clock on Saturday afternoon, March 23, 
the procession started up Fifth Avenue from Twenty- 
fifth Street. At the Union League clubhouse, at 
Thirty-ninth Street, the reviewing party had just fin- 
ished a luncheon, at which they were the guests of 
the Club, and were taking their places on a specially 
constructed grandstand. The Fifth Avenue front of 
the clubhouse was almost entirely concealed with a 
huge American flag, said to be one of the largest in 
the country. 

In the reviewing party, besides Governor Whitman, 
were Senator William M. Calder, Police Commissioner 
Richard E. Enright, former Dock Commissioner R. 
A. C. Smith, F. Cunliffe-Owen, Charles W. Anderson, 
former Collector of Internal Revenue; Major August 
Belmont, Dr. William Jay Schieffelin, Emmett J. Scott, 
special assistant to the Secretary of War; Fred R. 
Moore, Brigadier-General William H. Hay, Com- 
mander of the 184th Infantry Brigade, of which the 



367th Infantry is a unit; Brigadier-General Evan M. 
Johnson, Commander of the Seventy-seventh Division 
at Camp Upton; Major-General William A. Mann, 
Commander of the Department of the East ; Adjutant- 
General Charles H. Sherrill; Major-General Daniel 
Appleton, N. G., N. Y.; Major Schuyler Colfax, and 
many prominent members of the Union League Club. 



THE PRESENTATION OF THE COLORS 

When the head of the parade reached the Union 
League Club the regiment was halted and Colonel 
Moss and his field and staff officers took their places 
within a massed guard of honor drawn up as a three- 
sided square. 

The command stood at attention as Governor Whit- 
man left the reviewing stand and entered the square, 
facing Colonel Moss. 

George T. Wilson, a member of the Club, called for 
three cheers for the regiment and the shouts of the 
vast assembly echoed against the high walls of the 
surrounding buildings. 

The presentation of the colors by Governor Whit- 
man was a ceremony that was notably impressive. It 
was witnessed, in addition to those on the grand- 
stand, by an enormous throng of highly-interested 
spectators, while many hundreds were unable to get 
anywhere near the clubhouse. 

As Colonel Moss received the regimental and 
national colors from Governor Whitman and turned 
them over to the color bearers, the regimental buglers 
sounded "To the colors." Until the last note of the 
bugles died away the command stood at "Present 
arms." 




.'HITMAN HANDING THE 
OLOR TO COLONEL MOSS. 



r ndcnvood A- Undcni'ood Studios. N. Y. 



GOVERNOR V/HITMAN PRESENTS 
THE COLORS 

In presenting the colors Governor Whitman said ; 

"Colonel Moss, officers and men of the 367th In- 
fantry of the National Army; gentlemen of the Un- 
ion League Club, and my other fellow-Americans: — 

"Four times have colors been presented by this 
famed Club to colored soldiers upon the very ground 
virhere you soldiers stand today. Four times have 
those colors come back to this historic spot, some- 
times tattered and torn, it may be, but always hon- 
ored and glorified. 

"On behalf of the Union League Club I commit 
to your keeping the most sacred trust ever commit- 
ted to man, — the flag of the United States of 
America. I charge you by all that is sacred to 
defend this banner with all the strength and power 
that God has given you, but in doing so I feel and 
know already that you will never permit it to be 
dishonored, to shame yourselves or shame those who 
have given it to you today. Your Country will trust 
you to be true to yourselves true to the land of 
your birth, true to the record of those other soldiers 
of your race whose valorous deeds have brought 
glory to these Stars and Stripes. 

"Go forth and fight for the cause of humanity as 
those other colored patriots have done, but when 
you return from the forts, the trenches, the camps, 
the march, the battle -line, bring this flag back with- 
out one stripe dishonored, one star obscured. 

"Bring it back victorious," cried the Governor. 

"They'll do it. Hurrah for the Buffaloes!" was 
shouted from the crowd. 

"May God bless you and keep you," the Governor 
added, "wherever your duty may call you. and bring 
you back to us to share with all your fellow-soldiers, 
white or black, who fight under this same old flag 
of freedom, the abundant measure of praise and pride 
which your Country will then feel for you." 





GOVERNOR V.HITMAN HANDING THE 
NATIONAL COLOR TO (OLONEL MOSS. 



( ii,lcnco„,l d- I'udcrii'ood Studios. N. Y. 



COLONEL MOSS ACCEPTS 

Colonel Moss advanced toward Governor Whitman, 
and said: 

"Governor Whitman, members of the Union 
League Club, and other f ellow- Americans : 

"In accepting for the 367th Infantry from the 
Union League Club this stand of colors, I wish to 
say on behalf of my officers and my men that not 
only do we prize these beautiful flags because of 
their intrinsic value, but we prize even more the 
generous, patriotic impulse that prompted their do- 
nation. Not only is the presentation of these colors 
to the 367th Infantry another expression of the pa- 
triotism of the Club, but it also exempUfies once 
more the historic friendship of the Union League 
Club for the colored man, — -a friendship based on the 
spirit of the "square deal" for all men. That the col- 
ored men of this command, true to the record of their 
race in all our wars, will protect and defend with 
honor and heroism the flag of our Country which 
you are today placing in our keeping, goes without 
saying, and after this war is over, when the 367th 
Infantry returns from France, there will be another 
presentation of colors, — the regiment will bring back 
and present to the Union League Club the very stand 
of colors we are today receiving from you, and as an 
officer who has served eighteen years with colored 
troops, including two campaigns, let me say that the 
flags, adorning the walls of your Club, will in silent 
eloquence tell a story to which the members of the 
Union League Club, to which the American people, 
including our twelve million colored citizens, will be 
able to point with pride and pleasure. 

"Now, as Colonel of the 367th Regiment of In- 
fantry of the Army of the United States, with my 
own hands I will take and place in the hands of our 
color bearers the regimental color and the National 
Color, 'The Star Spangled Banner,' which we are 
going to take 'Over There,' and with which we are 
going to 'See It Through.'" 

Accompanied by the regimental band, a picked 
chorus of seven hundred that had been formed provi- 
sionally into the platoons that were massed in front 




International Film Service, Inc., N. Y. 



COLONEL MOSS HANDING THE REGIMENTAL COLOR TO ONE OF THE 
COLOR BEARERS SOON AFTER HAVING PLACED THE NATIONAL 
COLOR IN THE HANDS OF THE OTHER BEARER. 



of the reviewing stand, then sang the "Star Spangled 
Banner," following it with "Over There," the words, 
"The Yanks Are Coming" being changed to "The 
Buffaloes Are Coming," and closing with the regi- 
mental song, "See It Through," thus typifying in song 
the last few words of Colonel Moss's speech of accep- 
tance, — "The 'Star Spangled Banner,' which we are 
going to take 'Over There,' and with which we are 
going to 'See It Through.'" 

THE MARCH IS RESUMED 

"Forward, march," was then given, and the regiment 
resumed its march up Fifth Avenue. The aristocratic 
thoroughfare, which so many times of late had been 
crowded by admirers of the white comrade-in-arms, 
was no less lavish with its plaudits than were Lenox 
and Seventh Avenues, the main thoroughfares of New 
York's colored district, as the regiment swung along 
in perfect alignment. 

Every man in line looked like a soldier and wore a 
distinguishable expression of pride. Had the regiment 
entered Harlem on its return from battle and laden 
with trophies, its reception could not have been more 
tumultuous. Harlem has never seen such crowds as 
those that turned out to welcome the "Buffaloes." 
What it thought it would see and what it did really 
behold have made some very important history for the 
colored race. Harlem went mad, — went clean out of 
its mind, — with delight and amazement at the show- 
ing made by the "Buffaloes,"— THEIR OWN ! 

It was a big thing for the Negro, and a very im- 
portant happening, indeed. Nowhere on that seven- 
mile line of march could there be found, or even sus- 
pected, any such thing as race prejudice or ridicule. 
If there were any persons who went to the parade 
just for curiosity, or possibly to offer cheap humor 
at the expense of the regiment, they were lost in the 



general storm of applause, or more likely converted so 
suddenly that they joined in the welcome. 

A SECOND REVIEW 

At One Hundred and Thirty-seventh Street and 
Seventh Avenue Governor Whitman again observed 
the passing of the regiment from a special grandstand. 
On the stand there were also Mayor Hylan, Mrs. How- 
ard Gould and Miss Jessie Ackerman, of Pekin, China. 

THE PARADE ENDS 

The procession passed through One Hundred and 
Forty-fifth Street, down Seventh Avenue to One Hun- 
dred and Twenty-fifth Street, and then across to Lenox 
Avenue, where ranks were broken. 

A CONCERT THE FOLLOWING DAY 

The following day, Sunday, the Buffalo Chorus of 
1,000 picked voices and several regimental enter- 
tainers gave afternoon and evening porformances at 
the Manhattan Opera House for the benefit of the 
regimental fund. A high camp official declared after 
the evening performance that the entertainment had 
outclassed every other regimental affair of the kind 
that had been given in New York. 

The regiment returned to camp on Sunday night 
following the close of the show. 

WHAT THE NEW YORK NEWSPAPERS SAID OF 
THE PARADE 

The Times — "A feature of the exercises was the 
singing of 'The Star Spangled Banner' and 'Over 
There' by the Negro soldiers with a rythm and ring 
that will never be forgotten by those who heard it. 

"They proceeded snappily and in perfect formation 
up Fifth Avenue." 

The Sun — "New York saw something different than 
just a soldier parade, and in its heart maybe it did a 
little revising of codes. 



"It was no Harlem parade ... it was New York 
and National. The bright-gowned women stepped 
from their motors to applaud and astute gentlemen in 
spats held back nothing in admiration. 

"The crowd that jammed Fifth Avenue as full as 
the traffic cops would permit refused to stretch its 
neck to catch a glimpse of an aviator as he soared 
1,500 feet above the avenue." 

The Tribune — "There was a swing, a vim, a victori- 
ous note to their rendition of the National Anthem 
that stifled cheers and put a lump in the most brazen 
throat. . . . Some 3,600 Negro fighters for world 
democracy stepped out like one man." 

The Herald — "Colonel Moss's regiment from Camp 
Upton presented a most warlike appearance. . . . The 
aristocratic thoroughfare, which has echoed to the 
cheers evoked so often of late by their white comrade- 
in-arms, was not less lavish in its plaudits than Sev- 
enth Avenue, Lenox Avenue and One Hundred and 
Tenth Street when the swarthy Infantrymen swung 
past in perfect alignment." 

The American — "The parade became a triumphal 
procession. . . . The appearance of the men was a 
revelation to the town. In the dense crowd that bor- 
dered Ffth Avenue were many soldiers of other na- 
tions whose admiration was outspoken. The colored 
soldiers marched like seasoned Regulars. It was a 
serious, stolid, soldierly regiment to the last man." 

The Evening Sun — "The regiment marched along 
Vk^ith a unity of motion that won the admiration of the 
thousands of persons on the sidewalks. . . . Pride and 
soldierly appearance distinguished every man who 
took part in the parade." 

The Evening World — "New York showed by its ap- 
plause that it was proud of its 'Buffaloes.' " 

The Evening Telegram — "They marched to the ac- 
companiment of cheers of thousands who lined the 
sidewalks." 



The Evening Journal — "The colored soldiers looked 
worthy of the highest praise. No one could doubt 
that they would give a good account of themselves on 
the field of battle and maintain the traditions made by 
the men of their race as members of the United States 
armed forces. The troops swept forward like veterans 
on parade." 

The Globe — "The troops marched along with snap 
and ginger, looking fit for active duty." 

The Mail — "None of their white comrades had ever 
given New York a finer exhibition. Military men 
commented on their appearance and civilians clapped 
hands and roared appreciation." 

The World — "They were as spic-and-span a vision 
as has burst upon the appreciative gaze of flag-adorned 
Fifth Avenue in a long while." 

WHAT THE NEW YORK NEWSPAPERS SAID OF 
THE CONCERT 

The Herald— ''li Moss's 'Buffaloes' can fight as well 
as they frolicked last night the performance of the 
gallant Negro regiments of the Spanish American War 
will be paralleled on the Western front. . . . The 
chorus of 1,000 soldiers gave one of the most effective 
and well-conducted renditions of Negro songs ever 
heard in this city." 

The Sun — "It was an entertainment that added rep- 
utation to Colonel Moss's command. The chorus sang 
with great effect." 

The World — "Two big audiences gave in completely 
to the entertainers. . . . The big chorus was most 
impressive." 

The Tribune — "They sang with the rythm in which 
they are unsurpassed. They sang with that softest 
and sweetest of all English dialects." 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF REGIMENT 

The 367th Infantry, which forms a part of the 92d 
Division, was organized at Camp Upton, Long Island, 
N. Y., November 3, 1917, pursuant to Orders No. 105, 
War Department, 1917, and Special Orders No. 72, 
Headquarters 77th Division, 1917. 

The field officers, regimental adjutant, regimental 
supply officer, regimental surgeon and the command- 
ing officer 'of the Headquarters Company (total, 9) are 
white, while all the company officers, except the com- 
mander of the Headquarters Company (87), the medi- 
cal officers except the regimental surgeon (6), the 
dental surgeons (3) and the chaplain (total, 97) are 
colored. 

The colored officers, with the exception of the chap- 
lain, are all graduates of the Fort Des Moines (Iowa) 
Officers' Training Camp — what might be called "The 
Colored Plattsburgh." 

The enlisted men (3,699) were drafted from various 
parts of the country, quotas having come from Camp 
Devens, Mass.; Camp Custer, Mich.; Camp Lewis, 
Wash,; Camp Lee, Va. ; Camp Pike, Ark.; Camp 
Travis, Texas, and about 1,500 from New York and 
Brooklyn. An enlisted training cadre of 19 men was 
assigned to the regiment from the 25th U. S. Infantry. 






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